Fire Fighting in Canada August 2017 : Page 6

60 Years rating 6 Years 0 Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue (SSIFR) in partnership with the Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) is making a real impact on students’ lives by embracing first-response skills. Three years ago, GISS students identified first-aid as a desired skill in their careers class. There has been tremendous progress since then. For the past three years, grade nine students at GISS have 60 Years 60 Years Celebrating 6 0 Years ACROSS CANADA: Regional news briefs Celebrating Firefighters teach students lifesaving skills 60 Years Celebrating 6 0 Years Celebrating 6 0 Years STATION to STATION rating On the request of students at Gulf Islands Secondary School, members from Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue have been teaching grade nine students lifesaving first response skills since 2015. By next year, every student at GISS will know how to perform CPR and use an AED. been taught how to perform resuscitation on others. By 2018, SSIFR will have taught every GISS student CPR and how to use an AED. To date, SSIFR has taught 375 students this life-saving skill. “Learning CPR is a great stepping stone to any further medical-related endeavours, but mostly we emphasize the important of learning this life-saving skill due to the fact that statistically they are most likely to use these skills on someone they know” says paid-on call firefighter and instructor Chantelle Pohl. According to statistics from the Heart and Stroke Foundation there are more than 40,000 cardiac arrests per year in Canada. “This partnership allows the students to acquire lifesaving skills for their own future career as well as getting exposure to the career of first responders and building community relationships” says GISS history teacher David Collombin. This training has even helped some students find part-time employment because having certification on their resumes is an asset. A recent viral video of high-school volleyball player in the United States collapsing from a cardiac arrest on the court drove home the importance of CPR training among teens. Those first few minutes after a cardiac event are the most critical. A program like this improves safety because more bystanders are trained in CPR/AED; this is essential to vastly improving survival rates. “We hope that these skills are never needed, but if they are, this community is ready,” Collombin said. – Fire Chief Arjuna George THE BRASS POLE Promotions & appointments On June 16, the City of Kelowna, B.C., announced the pro-motion of TRAVIS WHITING as its new fire chief. Whiting served as deputy fire chief for the past two years, overseeing the Emergency Management and Fire Communications branch. The Village of Merrickville-Wolford, Ont., announced the appointment of MARK URQUHART as part-time fire chief for the municipality, effec-tive April 10. Urquhart brings 25 years of fire-service experience to the position and most recently served as deputy chief with the Merrickville Fire Department. Prior to his six years in Merrickville, Urquhart was a fire-fighter and lieutenant with the Leeds and 1000 Islands Fire Service for 19 years. In early April JEFF AUCOIN was appointed fire chief for the Reserve Mines Volunteer Fire Department in Nova Scotia. Aucoin joined the fire department nine years ago at age 21. PAUL SEE started in a new position as the fire chief for the City of Melfort in Saskatchewan on June 5. Prior to Melfort, See was chief of the Waskesiu Fire Department in Prince Albert National Park. Retirements After 36 years of service, Fire Chief TERRY MARTIN of Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue 6 FIREFightingInCanada.com August 2017